So while I was in NY, my NY dad, Kevin Cahoon, got us backstage at the Rachel Ray show to hang out with one of his best friends, Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Jesse is a broadway actor turned Hollywood celebrity through his role of Mitchell in the hit TV show, Modern Family. If you haven’t seen the show it is hilarious!!!!!! Jesse is such a talented performer and deserves every bit of success he’s getting. I had so much fun hanging out with Kevin and him as we made taco jokes, ate our Rachel Ray breakfast, and taking phone interviews with the New York Times (Jesse, that is!) Catch JTF tomorrow in the Season Finale of Modern Family.

So I know I didn’t get to review every week of the show on my blog but I did want to touch on the finale. To me it was the most disappointing top 4. I really thought Ade and Melissa should have been in the top 4. Melissa should have won. Out of the top 4 (Kayla, Jeannine, Brandon, Evan) I thought the only one who I thought should win was Kayla. She’s been my 2nd favorite dancer the entire season and I think she’s the most versatile dancer they’ve ever had on the show.

Evan was adorable and I loved how he was representing the MTs, but top 4… really????

I had a problem with Brandon from Day 1. He was a good dancer, no doubt, but I never saw him let go of his ego when he danced. Not fact… Just opinion…

I agree with the judges: Jeannine peaked at the right time. She flew under my radar for weeks. I liked her and thought she was very talented but she never stood out to me as one of my favorites. To me she was just your typical competition dancer. Very rarely did I see her open up. I will say however her solo for the finale was SICK! If she had done that Day 1, I might have been a fan. Out of the top 3, I’m glad she won.

But thank goodness for SYTYCD? People think that since I’m stuck on a couch all day I must be watching a lot of TV. Wrong! There’s rarely anything good on during the summer (particullarly since we don’t have cable) but come Wednesday, I’m as happy as a clam when So You Think You Can Dance? is on.

Season 5 has just started and I thought I might do a little deconstruction of the couples! (Couples are in no particuular order)

They are quickly becoming my favorite couple. They are just very well matched, she the soft ballerina, and he the strong manly man. They move wel together and I’ve enjoyed both of their numbers these past two weeks, particularly that Sonja jazz. Coolness!! Yeah i like them.

Ok. There a good couple right. But whats the big deal with him? Everyone loves him. I know he’s VERY strong, but that doesn’t make an interesting dancer. I just find him a little cocky when he dances and its very annoying. She’s cute. I like her personality. They’re Disco Week 2 was faaast.

For being so short, they don’t dance it. I think they’re matched extremely well. Evan has been a favorite of mine since he auditioned last year ’cause how many dancers have you seen audition for the program and say there specialty is musical theatre? I LOVE THAT! He’s so old school and classy and it shows no matter what he performs. Its funny, I think he’s really bummed that his partner is married! She’s cute. I think I like her hair a lot. There Contemporary Week 1 was beautiful. The judges were too hard on Evan though on Week 2’s Jive. (Correction to pic: Week 1 was Tyce choreography. My bad!)

I’m slightly biased towards this couple since 1) She spells her name the pretty way and 2) I have a best friend named Jason. She’s very strong technically and has such a beautiful smile. He is very likeable, eye candy, and an amazing soloist. Together they work perfectly. Bollywood Week 1 was kick butt. For not really liking the style, I LOVED the dance because of them. Hip Hop Week 2 wasn’t so hott. I think that Shane has just lost his vibe in choreography, it was your typical girl and guy like eachother hip hop dance. And c’mon, they have GREAT chemistry. Sad to say them in bottom three but I liked they’re solos and looking forward to seeing them next week!

I find them both forgettable. She’s cute, but held down by him! Like Mary, said he did Contemporary better than his own style. Well he doesn’t even do THAT good. Don’t get me wrong he’s cute and very good. I just find him being one of the weaker links in the group. Also to note: they had a new choreographer choreograph their Contemporary dance Week 2 and I thought it was the strongest piece on a choreographic stand point.

They’re a very quirky couple. There Wade piece Week 1 so… Wade. I liked it! And then Week 2, once again, Shane’s choreography did not deliver for me. I liked the concept of it. It just took forever to get to the climax of the number then ended to soon. Weak number. No wonder they were stuck in the bottom three. (Where was Tabitha and Napoleon?)

To me they’re a very strong couple, primarily beacuse of her. The judges were going crazy over this girl in Vegas but I didn’t understand why untill Week 1. She’s a force to be reckoned with! She has some of the prettiest lines I’ve seen on the series, very well trained, and can perform any style like its her own. She’s crazy!! I like her and think she amazing, but I just wouldn’t pick up a phone for her. I don’t know why… I’d hate to be him to keep up with her. Both weeks choreography was strong but Week 2 was a mess in the costume department.

I like Phillip but I don’t understand why everyone’s crazy about him. He’s VERY good at his own style, that being about it, but I just don’t really like his vibe. He’ s probably a really nice guy and I’m just crazy. She looks really good with him. I felt bad for her though, Week 2 with that Tango. Thank goodness people have Week 1’s amazing Hip Hop dance to remember.

This couple certainly gets the award for having the hairdest names to pronounce. I like both of them individually, but together, not so much. He makes her look bland. She makes him look old. Just not a good pair. Week 1 Tyce’s theatre piece was a mess! If any of you know me and my opinions of this show you know that I’m not particullarly fond of Tyce’s numbers. I think they need to get an actual BROADWAY choreographer to choreograph something. Wouldn’t that make sence? And it might actually be good. Hmm… what a concept! Week 1 they were victims of a bad piece. Week 2 they were victims a sob story. I’m not trying to say this to sound mean. I say it because everyone was so distracted by the emotion of the piece and Vitolio’s childhood that they didn’t really critique the piece. I think that it’s great to get caught up in the emotion of the piece, but somthin didn’t work for me. Oh and can they PLEASE pronounce her name right. Its driving me bonkers!!!

So there you go, my first two weeks of deconstructions. I’m hoping I can keep this up for the rest of the season. It’ll be hard seeing I’m going to be in NY for the next two weeks. WOHOOOO! I didn’t even talk about the couple that when home Week 1 ’cause I don’t even remember them. I didn’t want to dissapoint anyone who didn’t watch last night so I decided to not write who got off. Week 2 left me feeling underwhelmed. They didn’t have any of their really strong choreographers this week so the show suffered. Here’s to hoping Week 3 and 4 are better and that I have this on my TV in my hotel!

5th season of American Idol. It comes down to Kat Mcphee and Taylor Hicks. It looked obvoius that my favrite, Kat, would win. Taylor won. America got it wrong. It wouldn’t be the last time either…

So one of the highlights of that season was Katherine’s take on Eva Cassidy’s version of OTR. It was beautiful but I hesitated putting it on my blog because it was very much the same as Eva’s. But then I found this version (below). It looks like it was for some Christmas Child Adoption Event. It is WAY better than her performance on AI. Filled with lots of riffs and emotion, it shows what a true artist she has become.

Ever since I saw The Music Man when I was a little girl, I’ve been fascinated by barbershop quartets. I love the blend of harmonies and almost cartoonish feel of the style. So me and my homie Max are huge Scrubs fans and love Ted’s Band in the show. In real life Ted’s Band is actually called The Blanks. One episode a few seasons back was Wizard of Oz themed and the final 2 mins closed with Ted’s Band singing OTR. Their version is based on Israel Kamakawiwo’Ole’s version. (Israel’s version is a lot of people’s favorite, and though I do enjoy it it did not make my top ten faves.)